Beinhold h



Dec. f8, 1928. l 1,695,672

l v R. H. WAPPLER REARWARD VISIONSURGICALTELESCOPE Filed July 22', 1927 INVENTOR 1 l @gm/JMW@ ATTORNE Y specu'la.

i highly .efficient fremfthe standpoint of light Patented Dec. vv18,1928. Y'

f www REINHOIJD H. warmen, or Y'eivxnns, NEW YoRK, Asseivon'fro AiviniticnivfoYs'roscorn MAKERS, inc., orrnone'isiiaun cirY, 'New Yoan, n CORPORATION or new YORK.'

'Applicationhiei 3115,22

tube. For example, the examination of .the4

upper wall of tlievstomach by meansof a telescopic device inserted through the Aalinientary canal --necessitates the provision of means' for looking obliquely' rearwardly from the inner end of the inserted tube. It is an object of vmy present invention to provide a telescopic tube of this character',A the constructionbeing such that the tube may be used either by'its'elfork in association with suitably fenestrated jendoscopes ,orf4 other Telescopic tubesof this character must be as small as possible, from the standpoint of cross-sectional'.area, they must be devoid of all unnecessary projecting parts which might interfere with their smooth insertion and re-` moval, and they innst at the same time be capable of ccmmandiiiol afield of vision which is as rearward as possible. However, although rear vision is desirable, the field m11. st not be too limited and should if possible iiiclude- `an obliquely rearward field.` `Iilurthcrinore, since afehange of medium will change angles of refraction,- an` efficient telescope in'ustfbedesigned in a'mannerwhereby a change of medium will notjseriously impair its utility. i

, Another important requirement of-telescopes lof kthis character is theabsence of any" tumbling of the image when-the telescopic tube is rotated about'its axis.4 p Y i 'It is an object of the present'invcntionfto provide a device of thischaracter,` and it .is a feature of my invention to provide a struc-A tnre which is simple and hence inexpensiveto inanufacture, small and compact, and

fr ,nsinissionn y y r y A particular feature of' my invention resides in the 'combined employment of 'a reflecting objective, which commands a reaijan instrument whichr is not characterized mi./.iirwaiin vision scaeican TELESCePEjV I 1927. seriai No. 267,608.

IPATENTferrie'e.

Wai-diy' Qbiique seid-Offenen, mi anfang* .iliary optical device for effecting the proper' longitudinal.. transmission ofV light.-v raysV V through the .telescopic tube tothe eye-piece attheouter end. f 7

:It Sane'ther featureofmy-inventon t0 af# fi i raneea'nd construct the reflecting objective in such a manner thatlthe light raysentering it Y y Y will be directed obliquely backwards into the ytelescopic tube itself, the auxiliary optical meansbeing of sucha character as to redirect these obliquelydirected` rays into a substan-` l tially longitudinaldirection.v H Incnek embodiment of' my invention, the auxiliary optical means comprises anYV ecce'nf metrical lens. In a secondembodiment, the

In the onecase," the eccentric lenseftrie lens,'i. e., vone whose surfaces are defined Vby an eccentric portion of` a theoreticalsym.-

fects by itself no additional inversion ofthe. i

image; and in the other'case, the double action ofthey prism effects a double and-hence vself-neutralizing` inversion leading :to the same ultimate result. '-,By providing for vreitherone `reflecftion'or three1 refiections, and j not for two'or four,'I am enabled to provide by any tumbling of the image.

Briefly, my invention contemplates `the,

provision of'a' telescopic tube having a slight'- ly enlarged forward end, the end having an opening arranged in .its rearward exposed surface. In one forni of my invention, the reflecting objective comprises a substantially. lieinispherical lens', the 'planey surface of whichV constitutes the reflecting surface. IWhere `sucha lens is employed, a-portion of its curved lsurface is flattened off and arranged in said opening'. Y f

' In another form of my invention, the hemi se"v spherical lens Vmay beV replaced by an ordi@ nary plano lens wherein one surface acts as "the reflectitng surfaceandthe oppositepar-` Q allclfsurfac-e is arranged pai'tlyin saidI opening and 'partlyV in the tuberitself. Fortheattainmeiit ofthe foregoing objects Y', and'suehother objects as may hereinafter ap- ",pear Vor be pointed yout, I have? illustrated vthree formsof ,myinven'tion in theaccorn- Vpanying drawings in whichz-- l iena.-

f`= which my invention relates.

Referring for the moment to Figurel (i, it will be noted that a somewhat elongated telesco ic tube 1() is provided at its forward end wit an enlarged ortion 11 and at its rear end with a suitabe eye-piece 12. It will be understood that other connections and auxiliary parts may be associated with the rear end 12, the form illustrated in nowise limiting or affecting the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1, it will be noted that the enlarged end 11 is preferably constructed as an attach able element which may be screwthreaded into the body of the tube 10. Although the portion 11 may be denoted generally as an enlarged portion, nevertheless it will be noted, particularly upon reference to Figure 2, that the enlargement extends in one direction only. In other words, the main portion of the end 11 is substantially concentric with the tube 10, forming a substantial continuation thereof; the general crosssectional configuration of the end being, however, ellipticaland thereby providing the enlargement referred to.

VThat portion ofthe elliptical end which eX- tends beyond the peripheral bounds of the tube 10 is provided at its rear exposed surface with an opening 13, this opening being arranged along a plane oblique to the longitudinal axis of the tube. The elliptical end portion. 11 is also provided with an offset bore 14, the outer portion of which is threaded to receive a suitable plug llafter the objective has been positioned. f 'Y A. substantially hemispherical objective 16 is inserted through the bore 14 into the position shown in Figure 1. The forward or plane surface 17 of the objective is disposed toward the outer end of the bore 14. The rear or curved surface 18 ofthe objective is disposed toward the eye-piece 12, and it `will be noted that a portion 19 of this curved surface hasv been flattened out. The portion which is `flattened lies in a plane forming an acute angle with the plane surface 17 and is arranged to span the opening 13. The proper grinding and positioning of the objective 16 in substantially the manner illustrated will result in the reception of light rays from a rearwardly oblique field of vision and the transmission of these rays obliquely backward into the body of the tube 10. More particularly, the field of vision which the objective 16 commands is indicated approximately by the outer and inner boundary lines 20 and 21 respectively. The path of a ray passing through the axis of this field of vision is denoted approximately by the dot and dash line 22. When thisray enters the surface 19, it is refracted toward the plane surface 17 as shown. This surface 17 is designed to reflect the rays and may be silvered if desired. The reflected 'ray 23 is directed rearwardly in an obliquemanner into thebody of the tube 10. y

Toreceive the ray 23 (and the other rays traveling a substantially similar and correspending path), and to transmit these rays in a substantially longitudinal manner through the tube to the eye-piece, I provide auxiliary optical means which is shown in y Figure 1 in the form of an eccentric lens 24.

The lens .illustrated is a plano-convex lens i having av plane surface 25 forwardly dis-1 posed and a convex surface Q6 rearwardly disposed. The surfaces 25 and 2G lie along the surfaces which would be defined by an offcenter or eccentric portion of a theoretical symmetrical plano-convex lens of a diameter larger than that of the lens 24. The thickest portion of the lens 24 is disposed toward the opening 13, and the effect of the lens Q4 to receive the rays reflected from the surface 17 and to transmit these rays rearwardly in a substantially `longitudinal manner through the tube 10. Y Y A suitable backing27 is preferably positioned in front ofthe objectivel, and the lug 15bears upon this backing and assists in holding the lens 16 in position. The plug 15 is also arranged with itsouter `surface flush with the forward outer surface of the entire device so that the insertion of the instrument through a body canal will not be impeded nor rendered difficult.

In Figure 4 I have illustrated a modified form which replaces the hen'iispherical reflecting objective 16 by aV plano lens 40. ln the employment of such an objective, the absence of the/rounded surface of the hemisphere must be colnpensatcd for by a thickening of the eccentriclens 41 corresponding to the lens 24 of Figure 1. The element 40 has a silvered reflecting surface 42 arranged forwardly With respect to the tube as a whole. The rear parallel surface of the element 4() has a portion 43 arranged in the opening 44 (which corresponds to the opening 13 of Figure l), and a portion 45V arranged in the tube propeln The element 4() positioned with its parallel faces substantially perpendicular to the tube axis, although the inclination may be varied slightly in one or the other Adirection depending upon; the deg-ree of obliqueness which it is desired to view.

The field of vision which the `element 40 e tube 110'to the eye-piece.

In Figure' 5 I lhave illustrated a modified form which employs adouble-acting prisml 28 in place of the eccentric lens 24. The einployment` of suchf a prism renders the construction ofthe device extremely inexpensive.

In this form of the invention theob] ective 29,

corresponding to the objective 16 of Figure 1, is arrangedvwithsa flattened portion 30 in" an opening-31 corresponding to ythe opening 13. Theopening 31`is, however, vmore nearly perpendicular to the tube axis, and the plane surface 32 of the heinispherical obj ective 29 is in this form arranged in an oblique manner oppositeA to that of thesurface 17.

The field of vision commanded by the inn strument of Figure 5 is substantially defined by the inner and outer limits 32- and 33 re` spectively, and the `path of travel of'an axial ray 34 extends through the surface 30 into reflection from the surface 32 and thence along aline 35obliquely rearwardly into the tub'elO.-4` f' The prism 28 has a forward light-receiving surface Sii-substantially perpendicular to` the rearwardly directed ray 3'5, an oppositefsidc surface 37 forming an acute angle with the surface 36and a'rear preferably conveXsur-y face 38.l It vwill be understood that the Vrear portion ofthe prism l28 is of circular 'crosssection whereas the forward portion is wedgeshaped as, shown..v4 Thesurfaces'36 and 37 are so arranged that the light ray 35 (and similar corresponding ra. s) will lpass through the surface 36 and wi l impinge upon the surface 37 yas a reflectingl surface. .Y The latter surface vmay be silvered if desired.. This internal reflection redirects the ray against the forwardy siii-face `36 in direction -which-causes ther 'latter to re-reflect the rayby inter-nal reflection into arearward direction substantially longitudinal. i L V- a i u A suitable backing 538', corresponding to 27 of Figure 1 is arrangedwithin the.offset-,por-y tion of the Nelliptical end, anda plug. 39 corre'- sponds to the plug 15. M y j In the construction of thefellipticalv ends it may beffound ldesirable to construct 4the offset bore in an auxiliaryl cylindricalboss,

which may subsequently be cenientedtothe balanceof the -cndto form a complete asseinbly as shown; but 'this particular `foiiirizition of the end 'portionis-a. lmatter of mechanical skill and doesnot affect the salient'features of my invention.

In the embodiments of F igure'land Fig? ure 5, it will be noted that the inner limits 21 and 32 'ofthe rearwardlyfoblique fields offvision areV not entirelyparallelto the .longitudinal aXisof/the tube but diverge there:

from to' a* sli glitfldegree. @This permits; of

theemplo'yement of'an illuminating lamp ar-4 ranged closely adjacent lto the tube 10; in

kother words,-the fieldof vision in each case is rearwardly oblique and the `innermost limit skirts the tube 10 in such a. manner that a lamp tube closely adjacent to the tube 10 will beexcluded from the field. This pre-V 'ven-ts the lamp from blinding the Aobserver'- aiid. enables the lamp" at the Sametime tov lbe advantageously positioned in an veflicient manner for illuminatingl the mainy portion of the field.'

l/viiithrespectto a change of medium inthe Y field of vision, it will be noted that the em! bodiments of Figures 4 and 5 are particularly advantageous in retaining the rearward vision evenV in awater medium.` Tn other words, although theiconical fields of vision may become narrowed wiienthe instrument is einployedin a water medium or the like, the rearwardnessof the field will be retained.

' 'It will thus be observed that I have pro'-VY vided a telescopic device which is extremely simple' in structural nature and which em bodies` all' the desirable characteristics of compactness and light-transmitting qualities.

The provision of a reflecting` objective of the charactershcwn in combination withauxiliary optical meansy for redirecting the transmitted yrays in a longitudinal direction-has lproven tobe highly advantageous in provid-4 ing an instrument which is both simple'yet compact; 'Y The combination/of elements ilpaths4 areof necessity somewhat complicated Y' and difficult to represent. Accordingly, the` paths. indicated are intended to indicate` i merely the general nature of the construction and are not intended to be accurate representations, Similarly,A the fields of vision kare merely approximatelyindicated inthe draw.-

in-gs. In general,k the details of construction' and the proporti'onatefsizes and dispositions of the elements will of necessit re uire carefulfy adjustment 'depending jupon circumstances.` Thus, many changes in thedetails ll() l herein vclescribedand illustrated for the purpose ofexplainingtlie ynature of my invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fro'mcthe spirit and scope of the-invention as" expressed in the' appended claims." It is therefore intended thatthese details be interpretedas illustrative and not in a limiting sense.,V f

.- Having thus described my inventien and illustrated its use, what -Iiclaini as'new andy desire tosecurebyLetters'Patent is.-y J y In-a-surgical telescope, a tube having a frontenlarged end, saidendhaving an openf ing infits exposed reai'siirface,and an objective system which comprises (1) a substantially hemispherical lens having a portion in said opening and being arranged and constructed to command a rearward field of vision and to direct the light rays by internal reflection obliquely rearwardly into the tube, and (2) auxiliary optical means back of said lens for receiving said rays and directing them longitudinally through the tube.

2. In a surgical telescope, a tube having a front enlarged end, said end having an opening in its exposed rear surface, and an objective system which comprises (l) a substantially hemispherical lens having a portion in said opening and being arranged and con structed to command a rearward field of vision and to direct the light rays obliquely rearwardly into the tube, and auxiliary optical means back of said lens for receiving said rays and directing them longitudinally through the tube, said means comprising a lens defined by an eccentric portion of a symmetrical lens.

3. In a surgical telescope, a tube having a front enlarged end, said end having an opening in its exposed rear surface, and an objective system which comprises (1) a substantially hemispherical lens having a portion in said opening and being arranged and constructed to command a rearward field of vision and to direct the light rays obliquely rearwardly into the tube, and (2) auxiliary optical means back of said lens for receiving said rays and directing them longitudinally through the tube, said means comprising a convex lens defined by an eccentric portion of a symmetrical convex lens.

Il. In a surgical telescope, a tube having a front enlarged end, said end having an opening in its exposed rear surface,'and an objective system which comprises l a substantially lieinisplierical lens having a portion in said opening and being arranged and constructed to command a rearward field of'vision and to direct the light rays obliquely rearwardly into the tube, and (2) auxiliary optical means back of said lens for receiving said rays and directing them longitudinally through the tube, said means comprising a plano-convex lens defined by an eccentric portion of a symiiietrieal plano-convex lens of a diameter greater than the tube diameter. i

5. In a surgical telescope, a tube having a front enlarged end, said end having an opening in its exposed rear surface, and an objective system which comprises (1) a substantially lieinispherical lens having a portion in said opening and being arranged and constructed to command a rearward field of vision and to direct the light rays obliquely rearwardly into'the tube, and (2) auxiliary optical means back `of said lens for receiving said rays and directing them longitudinally through the tube, said means comprising a convex lens defined by an eccentric portion of a symmetrical convex lens whose axis Vis parallel to but offset (toward said opening) from the tube axis.

6. Ina surgical telescope a tube having a front enlarged end, said end having an opening in its exposed rear surface, and an objective system which comprises (l) a substantially hemispherical lens having a portion in said opening and being arranged and constructed to command a rearward field of vision and to direct the light rays obli uely rearwardly into the tube, `and (2) auxi iary optical means back of said lens for receiving said rays and directin them longitudinally through the tube, sai means comprising a double acting prism having a light-receiving face substantially perpendicular to the received rays. A

7. In a surgical telescope, a tube having a front enlarged end, said end having an opening in its exposed rear surface, and an objective system which comprises (l) a substantially hemispherical lens having a portion in said opening and being arranged and constructed to command a rearward field of vision and to .direct the light rays obli uely rearwardly into the tube, and (2) auxi iary optical means back of said lens for receiving said rays and directing them longitudinally through the tube, said means comprisinv a double acting prism havinga front liglhtreceiving face and a side face so arranged with respect to the rays entering the front face as to reflect said rays back onto the front face in directions which will cause said rays to be internally re-reflected into said longitudinal direction.

8. In a surgical telescope, a tube having a front enlarged end, said end havin an opening in its exposed rear surface, an an objective system which comprises (1) a substantially hemispherical lens having a portion in said opening and being arranged and constructed to command a rearward field of vision and to direct the light rays obliquely rearwardly into the tube, and (2) a double acting prism back of said lens and so arranged and constructed as to receive said rays and transmit them longitudinally throu h the tube.

9. n an objective system for a telescope of the characterdescribed, a tubular member having an enlarged end, said end having an opening in its exposed rear surface, and an objective lens in said end and comprising a substantial hemisphere having its curved surface rearwardly disposed land having a iiattened portion spanning said opening.

10. In a 'surgical telescope, a tube having a `front enlarged end, said end having an o ening in its exposed rear surface, and an objective system which comprises (1) an objective having a single reflecting surface and having a light-receiving surface in said opening, said objective being arranged and constructed to command a rearward iield ofy vision and to direct the light rays by internal reflection atrsaid reflecting surface oblicuely rearwardly into the tube, and (2) auXi iary surface arranged as a reflecting surface and optical meansback of lsaid objective for receiving said rays and directing them longitudinally through the tube. 1l. In a surgical telescope for commanding a rearwardly oblique field of vision, an objective system comprising 1n combination a plano objective element havlng its forward eld of vision, and (2) an auxiliary back 'f lens for directing th-e reflected rays longituydinally through the telescope, said last named lens having opposite surfaces defined by an eccentric portion of a theoretical symmetrical plano-convex lens.

Inwitness whereof, I vhave signed and Seald this specification thisQlSt day of July, 192

n "REINHOLDH WAPPLER. n 

